Agave & Rye Huntsville — Restaurant in Huntsville

It started out great and then went down hill from there. Put our name on the waitlist and was told it would be about 15-20 minutes so we went to the bar to get drinks. By the time we ordered one drink our table was ready and the five us us were seated. So far so good, only waited 5 minutes to be seated. Waitress was friendly and came over a few minutes later, but we didn’t know what we wanted so she went to get us waters. Came back with waters and we ordered a pitcher of margaritas and the trio appetizer. A little while later the waitress came back to take our dinner order. As a note, the music is loud enough it was hard to order and have a conversation. Going on 20 minutes of waiting now since ordering and no appetizer or margaritas. Waitress said she would check and came back and said they were washing the pitchers. Waited another 15 minutes and appetizers finally showed up and literally about a minute later so did in entrees, but still no margaritas. The trio and corn fritters were good and my tacos were ok, but cold by the time I finally ate them. The plain Jane was just that, a simple beef taco with toppings and honestly the meat didn’t have much flavor. I also wasn’t a fan of the hard shell wrapped in a flour tortilla so I removed it. The hot summer night taco again was ok with the best part of the taco was the greens in raspberry vinaigrette and strawberries on top. We each ordered 2 tacos and it seemed everyone like one taco better than the other for a variety of reasons. The menu does have a nice variety of tacos to choose from so you should be able to find something. I also ordered a side of baked beans, which was $5 and literally the smallest portion I have ever seen for $5. I will say they were delicious, but the potion should have been more than three spoonfuls. About halfway through eating dinner the pitcher of margaritas finally showed up. 🤦🏼‍♀️ To sum everything up it wasn’t the best experience, but we spoke with the manager and she addressed the problem satisfactorily. We will certainly give it another visit, only because of the way the manager handled the situation, and hope our experience is...

My recent visit to Agave & Rye Epic Tacos (8/12/2023 11:30 P.M.), while featuring delightful cuisine, unfortunately revealed a concerning lapse in adherence to established policies regarding gratuity. The experience left me with reservations about the transparency and consistency of the establishment's service standards.

One point of contention arose when I noticed that a 20% gratuity had been added to my check, despite our party consisting of only four individuals. As I am aware, this gratuity is typically applied to larger parties, specifically those of six or more. This deviation from the norm raised questions about the server's understanding of the gratuity policy and the oversight in place to ensure its proper application.

When I raised this issue with the server, they initially denied any intention to include the gratuity, attributing it to a mistake. This explanation, while plausible, was further complicated when the manager on duty confirmed that the server should not have had the authority to add the gratuity. This conflicting information about the restaurant's own policies is concerning and undermines the professionalism that one expects from a reputable establishment.

Moreover, the subsequent attempt by the server to confront me, my girlfriend, and our friends about not tipping for what was, regrettably, subpar service compounded the situation. This approach not only left a sour taste in our mouths but was an entirely inappropriate response to customer feedback.

In conclusion, the cuisine at Agave & Rye Epic Tacos is undeniably commendable, and the overall dining experience has the potential to be outstanding. However, the issue with the improper application of the gratuity policy, especially given the size of our party, along with the unprofessional response to customer concerns, raises valid concerns about the consistency and professionalism of the establishment. I hope that steps will be taken to rectify these issues and ensure that future patrons can enjoy not only the fantastic food but also a service that reflects the high standards that Agave & Rye Epic Tacos should...

So I am taking this experience with a grain of salt but as a first experience I'm not impressed.

Pros - They said the wait was going to be an hour, they has us, a party of 4, seated in about 40 minutes. The atmosphere is amazing. The art on the wall, the seating area inside and out. The dips were INCREDIBLE and by far my favorite. The staff was extremely friendly The jalapeno pineapple margarita was very good, just the right hint of jalapeno.

The cons - The music was too loud to carry on a conversation The tortilla chips are like hard toasted pita chips. Multiple times they brought us wrong drinks We didn't receive the sticky cauliflower bites until after we received our dinners, which were ordered almost 15 minutes after the appetizer was ordered. When we asked about the cauliflower bites, the waiter said they would go check. About 5 minutes later, they came back and said they were delayed but they were working on it. We asked they to cancel them. About 5 minutes later they were brought out and we were told that they would be removed from the check. One taco was asked for with no tomatoes and had to be sent back. We were never offered or given silverware and actually ended up picking up our own out of the basket, something I usually frown upon being apart of the industry myself. It appeared that there were no assigned sections and instead it was a community serving set up, I say this because between the red/green card system and the fact that we had multiple servers take our request, I think this is part of the reasoning for the mistakes on the orders

All that being said. I had really high hopes for Agave & Rye and hope they can make a better impression next time I come. I think several things added to the issues tonight. they are still newly open, seems like many members of their staff are new to the pace that was set or maybe the industry itself, and the normal learning curves of a new restaurant are all factors of tonight's experience. I will be back in a month or so and update with my...